The
number one complaint from
carriers,
who participated in a transport RFP, is that they do not get much feedback or
any feedback at all from the party who issued the RFP. Carriers that are
invited to participate in RFP project often spend a lot of time and effort on
understanding the requirements and creating a professional response. It is
disappointing to most when all they get is a one-line email
in which they are thanked for their efforts and simply told they did not
make the cut. Carriers deserve better.
It is
in the best interest of both all parties in an RFP (shipper
and carriers)
to
have a good feedback loop, we’ll explain why.
It is good business practice
A
RFP
project is usually an intensive activity which has taken many weeks to prepare
by the shipper. The invited carriers in general get two to three weeks to
create responses. They bring in a tender team that puts in a lot of effort to
create a competitive proposal. It is just good business practice
to provide
the professional
partner you are looking for with professional feedback.
Every RFP project should include as a standard an effort from the shipper in
which each individual participating carrier receives detailed feedback on why
he did or did not win the business.
Good feedback brings improvements
Carriers
that
are invited to a RFP project are invited for a reason; they might be potential
partners for the future. When responses are received from carriers they should
get details on where they were strong and weak. The more details they get the
better they can study their offering and improve on segments where they are
weak. This could mean that the next time such a carrier is invited he has
improved his services or pricing and is an interesting and competitive party.
You might need the carrier a next time
RFP’s
are a
reoccurring exercise for which most of the time you invite the same “usual
suspects”. Invited participants that have had a good experience with a
company’s RFP, will be glad to give it another shot the next time they are
invited. If you are professional, they will go the extra mile for you. When
carriers have a feeling that they do not stand a chance in a RFP or feel that
they are not taken seriously,
they will
either refuse to participate,
or
hand in an
uncompetitive response.
What should good feedback include?
For each
bid step in the RFP project you are performing an analysis anyway, you might as
well use this analysis as a basis to give feedback to the carriers you invited.
Both the
"winners and losers" of each bid step should receive detailed
feedback on their responses. Feedback should consist of an anonymized and
indexed comparison against the other invited participants. The service driven
components (such as the RFI) give the participants a good understanding of
their strengths and weaknesses. If possible you should also
give them
a comparison against your requirements list. This shows them not only how they
stack up against the competition, but also why they are or are not a good
partner for you.
On the
pricing side giving feedback is a more sensitive issue of course. But also here
an anonymized and
indexed comparison should be possible. Use graphs to illustrate where a carrier
was strong or weak. This does not have to mean exact percentages up or down
should be shown.
Giving
professional
feedback on a transport RFP is often highly appreciated by participants, even
if they do not win any business. The insights they get from it help them
understand and improve weaknesses in their offering. Furthermore it will
strengthen the potential partner base for any future RFP.
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